I wanted to love EV, I ended-up loving Tesla

An unexpected journey powered by... love for technology

During the last drive test of 1 000 miles across 2 countries and several cities, the 2 front passager fell in love with the Tesla technology and design.

The Tesla 3 is fun to drive, with nice behavior on the on different roads, as long as you dont leave the road... even icy. The beauty of EV is the incredible power provided by the electric powertrain. Even when you know it, each time it remains impressive - especially if you have the "performance" option and the battery fully warmed up.
And this is the key!

Negative Fahrenheit, big Zero for EV

Unfortunately, while driving during the coldest days of the year, with a temperature during the day below zero Fahrenheit./-17 Celsius, we faced the limitations of the EV ecosystem. We had to charge the car almost every hour, and the total cost of transportation went slightly over the cost per mile of legacy gas car. 

The worst part of the EV experience was likely due to our inexperience on how to manage batteries in extreme cold weather. The morning stop at the supercharger before starting the trip, is usually a good practice to maximize the time on the road and minimize the number of charging stop. Unfortunately, when the batteries are extremely cold, the chemical reaction is not happening and therefore not charging. Conclusion, the first 40 minutes are only used by the car to warm up the battery with the charging power. The trip did not start fast...

As soon as we reached the road, the beauty of the machine start blooming. Those considering Tesla cars as the only modern Vehicules are close to the reality. No old fashion display, no ugly buttons everywhere, minimalist interfaces, most of the time doing the job close to perfection. The number of actions to get what is needed is minimum. One single button to activate the speed control, simple double clic activate the autopilot. And then... whoaaa. 

An alienated press against the Tesla idea 

The current press releases are not fully describing Tesla in the best terms. The aventure of Elon Musk on twitter is likely contributing to the alienation of the media against the brand. Even Business Insider started slashing the company... Maybe because Elon Musk style started to annoy or likely because he highlighted some evidence of unfortunate collusion between "free press" and the others... Ultimately, we read more about how tesla dont provide the perfect car, or the absolutely full autopilot and also each occurrence of accident across the world involving a tesla. 

Let my autopilot bloom

When we double press the autopilot controller, it is like getting a snapshot on our future, the car is taking control, with smooth and confortable drive. Following the flow, stopping when needed, restarting autonomously, turn right... and when you show interest to take over the control by activating the turn light it released it smoothly, passager don't feel disruption of the smooth drive. 

The level of confort offered by the autopilot is quickly making it the natural way to transit. While most of the publication focus on some extreme cases where under difficult condition the autopilot was not as good as the humain driver, I felt that in most normal cases it was really good enough to feel safe. We used it even under the difficult December blizzard with very limited visibility, under heavy rains, snowing day... and most of the time... we kept it active.

https://www.sae.org/

Tesla autopilot is often mentioned as a Level 2 in the SAE norm. Which means a sharing of the actions and keep the human driver responsible. This is very important since it does not require to conclude on the complex redefinition of the legal responsibility of an accident as well as the responsibility of the AI decision of sacrifice. Definitely this autopilot is a key asset for the future of Tesla. With the growing competition and the ease to build an EV car, it is needed. Automotive industry is shifting from a very complex product requiring an intense level of numerous expertises which will allow even more players to join the ride. In the last automotive salon in Geneva, numerous new constructors from China presented their new EV.

A humain question... Brain or body

How important is the autopilot for Tesla is a key question to ensure the resilience of the brand. The broad debate on its name is a trigger... While Tesla called it Full Self-Driving software, many article highlight its limitations and how much it is not fully autonomous. While it does have limitations, the system is driving. I dont recall debate on how to call the autopilot of a small airplane chopper keeping just orientation and altitude? What about the name of the Boing autopilot allowing to set the coordinates and have the airplane flying to the destination... 

https://www.spglobal.com/

Independently of its name, the system is impressive and so different with most if not all of the competition available on the market. While still waiting for a fully autonomous system (level 4) in our next car, I can say definitely say I want the Tesla autopilot in my next car. 

We really disliked the EV charging experience, the pain to have to recharge so frequently because the temperature was not ideal, the lines at the charger because everyone needs it at the same time at the same location. But the way Tesla leverage current technology, the minimalist spirit of the design makes the Tesla different. This is likely part of the reason the brand loyalty so high.

Ultimately, while the EV experience is still full of constraints, with an ecosystem not yet competing with the autonomy of traditional cars, no need to spend hours behind the wheels to feel the full of potential. But while the ecosystem is maturing, it would be great to get the tesla on another technology. Why not hydrogen or gas?

Can Elon Musk push the vision of Tesla company to a new height and offering a digital experience as main differentiator rather than focusing on the energy type? Tesla building not only EV cars....

Think Encore!